Education and Training

Most food servers learn how to do their jobs as they go. Many restaurants have a brief orientation to help servers become comfortable with the specifics of a particular restaurant, but they expect new employees to learn the ropes quickly.

It would be unrealistic to walk into an upscale restaurant and expect a job immediately. These establishments require a good deal of waiting experience. Waiters and waitresses at the fanciest restaurants need to be able to perform the basics perfectly before they can be expected to perform more complicated tasks. The best advice is to start early and take a part-time job as a waiter or waitress while you are in school. This experience will give you a great advantage later on if you are serious about pursuing this line of work.